It's Such a Mad, Cold World
by jayhogartismyangel
Summary: Fifteen years have passed since Hannah O Connor last set foot in Starr's life. Now, at seventeen, Hope Thornhart becomes the best of friends with a fourteen year old girl named Raegan Charles. Rest of summary inside.
1. Prologue: Picture Perfect Memories

**It's Such a Mad, Cold World**

**Summary: Fifteen years have passed since Hannah O Connor last set foot in Starr's life. Now, at seventeen, Hope Thornhart becomes the best of friends with a fourteen year old girl named Raegan Charles. What happens when Raegan discovers what her estranged mother did in the past? And what happens when Hannah O' Connor comes back for her daughter?**

**Couples/Pairings: Hope Thornhart/ Evan Sinclair, Raegan Charles/Alexander McBain, Sierra Morasco-Fish/Trace Lovett. James Ford/Starr. Past: Cole Thornhart/Hannah O' Connor. Hannah O' Connor/Anthony Charles.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Life to Live, or any of it's characters. I do, however own Anthony Charles, Trace Lovett, Evan Sinclair, Alexander McBain, and Raegan Charles.**

**Prologue: A Picture Perfect Memory**

**Raegan's POV**

The only memory I really have of my mother is when I was three or four. We were at a beach with my father. For whatever reason, she was only allowed supervised visits with me. I remember the wind blowing through my honey blonde hair and I remember laughing with her, as we tried to find the pretty seashells. It was such a fun day and with my mother and father on either side of me, it finally felt like a real family. A normal one. At the end of the day, she handed me a beautiful white and pink jewelry box, that played a sweet little tune when I opened it up. Inside, there was a necklace. A golden locked with blue sapphires in the shape of a rose in the center. It was something that I've worn around my neck, ever since. After giving me the gift, she hugged me and kissed me, before she got back into her car and drove away. That was the last time that I ever saw her again.

I'm curious about her. Whenever I ask my father what's wrong with her, he wouldn't tell me. He'd say that I was too young. It was his way of protecting me I guess, but daddy certainly couldn't protect me forever.

**Hope's POV:**

Being the daughter of a man with a life sentence in prison, has never been easy. I've never had many friends because I would always get in fights, defending him to people. Ever since I was six years old, other kids having been telling me what a bad guy he is. But that's because they don't understand. I guess that not many people would. I didn't understand why he was in such a horrible place, until my mother told me the day that I turned thirteen. I knew that he shot a man in cold blood. One that couldn't defend himself because he was handcuffed to a police car. I knew the reason why too. My daddy had thought that the man had killed my mother and me, only to find out that he hadn't. My fraternal grandmother tried to take the blame for the murder at first, but dad couldn't bare to see his mother go to jail for something that he did, so he admitted to the crime and has been in jail, pretty much ever since.

There's more to the story though, I know there is. Mom and James-my stepfather, won't answer my questions about where we were exactly when dad thought we were dead. They tell me that I'm too young to know. That never bothered me until this year, when I became friends with a girl who's family had their own secrets...

**Next Chapter: Hope and Raegan meet and an instant friendship is formed. Flashbacks of the past.**


	2. Chapter One: The Meeting

**It's Such A Mad, Cold World**

**Chapter One: The Meeting and Forgotten Memories**

"Shit!" Seventeen year old, Hope Thornhart hissed under her breath as her books fell from her arms, spilling all over the hallway floor. She was already late for class as it was! Now she was bound to get in even more trouble. Great. Just what she needed. Her mother was going to be pissed! She already got detention for a week for fighting Everleigh Golden. The principal had warned her that if she got in anymore trouble, she'd be suspended. With a sad little sigh, she knelt down to the ground, pale blond hair falling all around her face as she began to stack her books into a neat pile, beside her. Just as she reached for her last couple of books, a pale hand with pink, cotton candy colored nails held it out to her. She smiled, murmuring a "thank you", as she took it from her. Standing up, her dark eyes locked on a girl with a pair of baby blue ones'. "I'm Hope Thornhart. I don't think I've ever seen you around here before." She said as she held out her lightly tanned hand.

The other girl gave her a friendly little grin and flipped back her loose, honey blonde waves. "I'm Raegan. Raegan Charles." She told her, shaking her hand. "I just moved here about two weeks ago. My father got offered a job here. He's a computer software manager." She lifted her dainty wrist to look down at her gold watch with a frown. "Aren't you late for class?"

Hope nodded, biting her lip. "I was already late when I dropped my books all over the place. I'm kind of scared to go to class. I'm bound to get in trouble. The principal warned me."

"What class do you have?" Raegan asked of her.

"Drama." Hope answered carefully.

At those words, Raegan smiled once more. "So do I! I doubt we'll share any other classes. I'm a freshman. But we share this one."

Hope smiled back at her as they began to walk. She may have just found a new friend, and for that she was very grateful.

Starr Manning-Ford sighed as she ran her hand through her short blonde ponytail, reading her father's newspaper as she drank her hot cocoa. Hope and James would be coming home soon. Hope from school, and James from the garage. Hope had called her during lunch, sounding so happy and excited because she found a new friend. One who was three years younger than her, but still. Starr was glad for her daughter. She knew that Hope had never had an easy time making friends because of the fact that her father, Cole Thornhart was in jail, and also, probably because her grandfather was Todd Manning.

Just then, the door to the house opened and Hope ran into the room, one arm locked with an unfamiliar girl, obviously the one she'd told Starr about on the phone. They were giggling up a storm about something or other, and Starr had to smile. The scene reminded her of she and Langston when they'd been in highschool.

"Mom, this is Raegan Charles. We're in drama class together." Hope said excitedly, a wide grin taking over her face.

Starr laughed and walked over to the two girls, holding out her hand to Raegan. "It's nice to meet you Raegan." She said, studying the girl closely. She could swear that there was something so familiar about her. Mentally shaking it off, she let go of the girl's hand.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Thornhart." The teenage girl replied sweetly.

The smile fell from Starr's face as she looked torwards her daughter for explanation.

Seeing the uncomfortable situation, Hope hurriedly explained, "Oh, my mom and dad aren't together. Mom's last name is Ford. It's the last name of my stepdad."

Raegan gave a slow nod, furrowing her brow and looking her friend over. "Oh." She murmured, wondering in the back of her mind why her new friend hadn't told her about this.

"So that Raegan girl seemed nice." James commented later that night as they laid in bed. He looked over at Starr who had her hand resting on her still flat stomach.

"She is." Starr said, biting her lip and sounding a bit worried.

Frowning, he threw his car magazine to the ground. "What's wrong?" He asked of her, wrapping his arms around her slender form and kissing her bare shoulder.

She shook her head, and turned her head to lock eyes with him. "You're going to think that I'm crazy."

"Twinkle, I would _never_ think that." He told her sweetly, gently kissing her lips.

"Well, Raegan reminds me of someone." Starr told him, not knowing how to say it.

"Of who? It can't be that bad!" James replied with a laugh.

Starr just stared at him.

His eyes widened in realization. "Baby, it's been years since we last saw her. And as crazy as she was, I doubt that she'd have a daughter. You're just thinking about her because it's so close since-" He trailed off.

"Since she tried to kill us?" Starr asked him brokenly, tears stinging her eyes as she remembered the night that Hannah O'Connor had tried to bury them alive. All because of her obsession with Cole.

"Hey! I'm _not_ going to _ever_ let anything happen to you, Hope, or the baby inside here!" James told her firmly, rubbing circles on her stomach at his last few words. "I promise you that." Kissing her forehead, he watched her smile softly and close her eyes, ready to go to sleep. He hoped that the nightmares wouldn't come back tonight. She hadn't had them in years, but he knew that Hannah had been the cause of them before.

**Next Chapter: Hope tells Raegan about her father. New crushes and Rivals. Meeting Mr. Charles.**


	3. Chapter Two: Confessions

**It's Such a Mad, Cold World**

**Chapter Two: Confessions **

Raegan yawned as she climbed out of bed, sliding her small feet into a pair of fluffy purple and white, polka-dotted slippers. She ran a hand through her wildly messed up hair and went to the bathroom to take a shower. She went down to the kitchen afterwards, dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a baggy red, University sweatshirt. She raised an eyebrow when she saw her father sitting on a stool at the island, drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Hey daddy." She said with a smile as she sat down and poured some Cinnamon Toast Crunch into a bowl, covering it with milk.

He smiled at her from behind his wire-rimmed glasses. "Morning honey. Did you make any friends at school yesterday?" He asked of her.

Swallowing her bite of cereal, Raegan nodded and said, "One new friend. Her name is Hope Thornhart. She's a little bit older than me, but she's cool."

"I'm glad you made a friend. You'll have to invite her over sometime. I'd like to meet her." Anthony Charles told his daughter.

She beamed at him. "I'll bring her over today. We'll probably have to practice for the play, anyways." She replied, standing up to put her bowl in the sink before heading back up torwards the stairs. She turned before she began to walk up them and asked, "You _will _ be home tonight, right?"

Anthony gazed at his daughter as he sat his coffee cup down. "I should be." He answered. "If I don't have any extra work, that is."

Raegan sighed sadly. "Well...could you atleast try? Please?" She pleaded with him.

He nodded and watched her head back up the stairs to grab her backpack.

"Hey!" Hope said grinning up at Raegan. She shut her locker, holding her books against her chest as she leaned against it.

Raegan smiled back at her. "Hey, Hope. You excited for drama class?"

The blonde rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Of course. It's better than the rest of my classes, atleast. I have a big Science test coming up and I suck at Science."

The other girl smiled sympathetically as they began to walk down the hall torwards their seperate homerooms. "I can help you study for it." She offered. "I got good grades for Science in my last school. Besides, my dad is wanting to meet you anyway. It would be killing two birds with one stone."

Hope gave her a thankful look and nodded her head just as they went their seperate ways.

Raegan bit her lip as she stood outside the door to her house, later that day. Hope was by her side, looking around curiously at the carefully cut lawns.

Hope followed Raegan into the house, still looking around. She caught sight of a picture that on the wall of a little girl with honey blonde waves of hair, being held by a woman with shortly cut brown hair.

"That's my mom." Raegan said from behind her. That picture was the last time I saw her."

Hope turned her head to meet Raegan's eyes. "What happened to her?" She asked her new friend curiously.

The girl in question bit her lip and shrugged. "I have no idea. For all I know, she could have a whole other family. The last I saw of her was when I was brought home from the beach and she gave me a jewelry box and this necklace." She replied, pulling out the necklace from underneath her sweatshirt to show her.

Hope swallowed hard. "My dad's in jail. He has been since I was almost two years old." She told her in a rush.

Raegan didn't say anything. She had of course, heard the rumors. People had been telling her-trying to warn her who she was hanging out with, earlier today in school. She hadn't listened though. It wasn't really any of her business. Atleast not until Hope decided to tell her on her own free will.

Just then, Anthony walked in through the front door with his cellphone to his ear. He didn't seem to realise that there was a guest.

Turning her head ever so slightly to roll her eyes at Hope she, grabbed the other girl's hand and pulled her along torwards her father's study. Raegan sighed when she noticed that her father had hung up the phone and was now thumbing through one of the many boxes that littered the floor. "Daddy, we have some company!" She said sharply.

His head snapped up and the glasses fell just a little bit down his nose. Smiling slightly, he walked over and reached out a long, tanned hand for Hope to shake. "You must be Hope. Raegan told me about you this morning. It's nice to meet you."

Hope grinned as she locked eyes with him. "It's nice to meet you, too Mr. Charles."

The next day at school, Raegan walked into her History class and took a seat behind Alexander McBain. She rolled her eyes as she watched a girl with shoulder length, brown hair flirt with him shamelessly. The girl was twirling a piece of hair around one tanned finger. She crossed and uncrossed her legs, constantly, making her already short skirt rise up her thighs. She really admired the boy infront of her's ability to remain polite, even when it was obvious that this girl-Shannon Clearvaun, was bothering him. She didn't think she'd be able to handle it. As if feeling her eyes on him, Alexander turned slightly in his seat and smirked at her, eyes locking with her own. Raegan felt a flutter in her stomach as she met his eyes and she had to suck in a breath. This was so not happening to her.

**Next Chapter: Raegan and Alexander talk. A mysterious boy sticks up for Hope.**


End file.
